There are a whole lot of wacky uses for new 3D printing technology. From a 3D printed bikini, 3D custom designed cookies, or even your very own 3D fetus model. This new way of manufacturing objects is really unleashing both the creative and the crazy from all across the globe.
But now 3D printing is being used for a very practical, and potentially life-saving use by doctors right here in Australia.
At the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, surgeons are being trained to perform paediatric surgery through practicing on 3D printed body parts. These ‘body parts’ are being designed from scans of real-life kids, and by using them in training, surgeons will gain greater and more practical experience at a wider range of procedures. Mitch Finlayson, who works in the training simulations lab at the Royal Children’s, aims to create models that recreate the intricate and tiny parts organs and body parts of kids so that surgeons are able to develop the dexterity required to perform delicate surgical procedures.
As these 3D printed parts can easily be altered, for example, to replicate abnormalities developed in rare conditions, this will also increase the competence and the amount of surgeons who have practical surgical training in these situations. Robert Stunden, a paediatric surgeon and chairman of the Victorian state committee of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, said this new technology could totally transform surgical training, allowing greater opportunities to learn how to treat rare conditions.
He told The Age, "Previously, you had to be present at the operation with a rare anatomy to be able to appreciate it."
The next step for the simulation technology team at the Royal Children’s Hospital is to create 3D body parts that will actually behave like body parts, therefore being more responsive during surgical simulations.
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